general question about garage lighting
 

I have a two car garage that the previous homeowner had built. The rafters are tapered to match the roof line. Previous owner installed 8 standard 4' florescent light fixtures by laying them on top of the rafters :rolleyes:. So at some point in time in the spring I plan on redoing this mess. I don't ever plan on doing bodywork so my lighting needs fall into the general category. Would you guys stay with the flor. or something else ? Any advantage to going to the T6 ( I think ? ) type vs. the 4' two pin style ? My ceilings are quite high so I plan on lowering whatever fixtures I go with. What is considered a good height from the floor for lights ? I have roll up garage doors so they are not in the way. Yes energy consumption is part of the equation but good lighting is the main goal. I will say the current lighting is not bad and I think would be better just by lowering the fixtures by 4-5 feet. Any advice is appreciated.

I'd go with some 8 footers. They add a lot of light. Light is something very important if you plan to spend any time in the garage. The single prong bulbs are easy to change.

Go to a specialty lighting store and ask the same questions. They have made some very remarkable strides in fluorescent lighting.
We just installed some new high output florescent's (high lumen numbers) in the shop and I was blown away by how much light they put out.
When I re did the lighting in my garage one thing I did learn was to get all the same fixtures so I only have to stock one bulb.

garage lighting
 

When I built my shop, I had 8 foot flourescent lights installed. I've got units on each end over the work benches and others hanging/mounted along the length of the shop. There are 7 fixtures inside and one outside for the carport on the end of the building. So far it has been enough lighting for anything I have wanted to do or work on.

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Before my 8' fixtures...
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After...
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The ceilings are 14', and the fixtures hang by chains about 1' below the ceiling.

8x T8 fixtures in my newly remodeled urban workshop. I thought it was a bit too much at first, but now I love it. Let there be light!

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Last month I installed two 8' units with an electronic ballast (less energy consumption and operates below 60 degrees w/o issues) in my 2 car garage and I'm so glad I didn't go with the four 4' units. If I didn't have to cover the holes from the two single light fixtures, I would have gone with a single H.O. unit as recommended by Rick. I'd also recommend covering the tubes with a plastic sheath or go with safety bulbs that are coated in silicone. It's a little overkill, but with my luck something would tag a tube and it would come crashing down on a car. As far as height, I don't have a specific rule to follow, but I think 12' to 14' off the ground would give you the best light disbursement.

Speaking of overkill, there are two sights you might want to check out that might shed a little more light on your question (sorry....couldn't resist the pun):

Lithonia Lighting - The best value in lighting

Visual - Interior Lighting Tool

8' HO fixtures and lots of 'em here. We have a few hanging on the wall too. Also have put up a few 4'x6' sign cans with 4 bulbs each to provide extra light in a few needed spots.

Anyone have experience with the light fixtures sold from Griot's Garage? Are they really the bees knees (and worth it) compared to regular fluorescents?

While you are installing the wiring for the lights, add some overhead receptacles for hanging power cords too. Extremely handy to have power overhead rather than dragging cords around the floor. If I had a large garage I'd install two and even look into retractable cords.

Very generally speaking, I've found that everything sold by Griot's can be found for less elsewhere.

8' is a good working height. If you work with long stock, add protector sleeves. Reflectors do work well in directing light downward. I need to light up shelving and the whole place, so I don't use reflectors.

We have 18' ceilings in the garage. The florescents were a PITA to change. We had them removed and exchanged for barn lights that take 100, 200 or 300 watt bulbs. We have a lot more light and we don't have to worry about temp issues.

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I had about eight 4' flos in my garage with several running down by the base. That really helped to work in the side and under the car.